10 British TV Shows That Crossed the Pond

Contractions just minutes apart! What do you do? "Call the midwife!" This BBC One series, which airs on PBS, is based on a British midwife's memoirs. Set in London's poor East End during the 1950s, the title characters serve their neighborhood, riding bikes to take calls. The realistic portrayals of pregnancy and childbirth fluctuate between joyful and heartbreaking. Other issues of the day, such as social class and mental illness, interweave with the birthing stories.

The fourth season of "Call the Midwife" has made a home for itself on Sundays in 2015, anchoring that night's drama-heavy PBS lineup. During its third year, the show drew 3.6 million public television viewers: an increase of 20 percent from the initial season [source: PBS -- PBS and BBC]. The midwives are on call to American audiences, as well.